The State is failing persons with disabilities and their carers. The disability services are in crisis on all levels. From the minute a parent or a guardian notices a difficulty with a child, they must fight for everything: for an assessment of needs, with over 22,000 children now waiting; for an appropriate crèche place; for an appropriate school place; for access to therapy services; for respite places; and, indeed, for residential places. Today I want to focus on respite and residential services for adults with intellectual disabilities, that is, children transitioning to adulthood at 18 years and older adults.

Respite services for young adults are almost non-existent. They finish in school, special school usually, and effectively fall off a cliff. If they are lucky, they may get a weekend of respite every six months or maybe not at all. This puts huge pressure on family carers, who often become ill themselves. This leads to the question posed by the Before We Die campaign. That question is: “Who will care for my son or daughter’s needs when I am no longer able to do that or when I die?” It is not uncommon to hear a parent say, “I hope they go before me.”

Some 92% of adults with an intellectual disability rely on a parent as their primary carer but only 2% of those have a plan in place for their future. Some 2,000 persons with an intellectual disability live with parents aged 70 years or over. Five hundred of those are with parents of 80 years of age or over. This means that, typically, residential places are provided only when an emergency arises or a carer becomes ill or passes away. This model of crisis management is cruel and heartless and more often than not means that the adult with the disability has to leave their community. Statistics show that over 600 reside in counties outside their own and over 200 reside more than 100 km from their previous home. This is also the most expensive way to provide services as they are provided by private, for-profit companies.

The services are in crisis and we need a new statutory agency, including the HSE, local authorities, section 38 and section 39 organisations and families, to plan and provide disability services. We need an emergency funded plan immediately. We need a statutory register of needs and a personal plan at age 18 for all adults as they go into adulthood. We need that urgently.

I thank Deputy Healy for raising this really important issue. I acknowledge the Before We Die campaign and the dedication of the parents, the carers and the families behind it. We all know they speak from a place of deep concern about what will happen to their sons and daughters when they are no longer able to provide care themselves. That fear is real and deserves to be heard. The Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, have engaged directly with the group to hear their lived experience and to ensure that it informs the wider approach and direction of the Government on this issue. My colleagues, Deputies McAuliffe and Crowe, have also engaged extensively with the group. I am conscious of the profound impact this has on people with disabilities and their families, particularly ageing parents. We want to continue to support people to remain in their family homes for as long as they and their families wish. There is also the need, as Deputy Healy said, to significantly expand residential capacity. That is a clear priority for the Government. Some progress has been made, and that is reflected in the wider commitment we made as part of budget 2026 last year when it came to specialist disability services, which was a €3.8 billion allocation, almost 20% more than the year before. Of that, there has been a significant amount of funding to deliver residential services to support people to live independently in their communities.

Specifically on respite services, there has been particular investment. The amount of funding has doubled between 2021 and 2026, reaching €150 million in 2026. That funding supports the expansion of residential and respite services, day services, home support and personal support hours. That was complemented by €25 million in new development funding for respite in last year's budget. This is supporting an initiative expected to deliver 10,000 additional overnight sessions and 25,000 additional day sessions this year. The HSE's 2026 national service plan targets 175,000 respite sessions and 91,000 day-only sessions for the year.

I am conscious that just setting out some of the changes does not cut it for a lot of families who have not seen the benefits of this increased investment. We need not only to continue to prioritise this next year but also to ensure that the level of investment, which has increased exponentially in recent years, is prioritised around respite, particularly on some of the specific requests coming from this campaign, which is in all our communities. This is of growing concern to many parents, and that certainly will form the basis of my budget discussions with the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and the Minister, Deputy Foley.

The modest improvements the Minister has outlined are at best from a very low base, if not an almost non-existent base, but all individuals with disabilities have accessed services since childhood. It beggars belief that there is not a comprehensive national database and register of needs for those individuals.

These must be put in place as a matter of urgency. As the Minister knows, every adult with a disability has a right to live as independently as possible within their own community, with the supports they need and with dignity, autonomy and security. Urgent action needs to be taken to provide respite as residential care. An emergency funded plan is needed in the forthcoming budget for adults with intellectual disability living with parents who are aged 70 years or over. These parents cannot wait for systemic change. They need action now. Will the Minister include emergency funding in the budget he is due to introduce in two weeks' time?

I share the view that we need to see continued expansion of the availability, frequency and range of respite options in order that people with disabilities, their families and carers have the support they need now and into the future. We need to use each budget to deliver progress in that area.

In 2025, the HSE delivered 164,000 respite nights to 7,500 people, alongside more than 65,000 day-only respite sessions. That was an 82% increase in day sessions and a 24% increase in respite nights compared with pre-pandemic levels. There has been significant progress over the past number of years. I am not going to argue with the Deputy about those who have not seen the benefits. The Government needs to ensure that in each budget and in how we organise disability services and respite care, that there is continued momentum and progress, particularly where we know that demand is continuing to grow. That has been reflected by the Before We Die campaign group. It is something we want to continue to prioritise in 2027.